Buy & Sell

Help

Newsletter

Posted October 18, 2013 12:13 am

912-652-0325
jenel.few@savannahnow.com

Town Hall focuses on struggling students

A small group of parents, community leaders and public schools officials met at Johnson High School Thursday night to discuss the best way to shore up the cracks in the system and support the students who have historically fallen through.

Savannah Chatham Public School Board Member Connie Hall held a town hall meeting to try and rally community support for the public school system’s most troubled students — those who lack parental support.

“We have children whose parents cannot or will not be accountable,” she said. “These are lives we cannot let go down the drain.”

In recent months Superintendent Thomas Lockamy has pointed to early childhood education opportunities and increased parental and community support as the key to closing performance gaps between children of poverty and children of means. He said the district needs to work on training teachers to expand their cultural understanding so they can build better relationships with at risk students, particularly their at-risk black male students who have some of the district’s lowest academic and behavioral outcomes. But he had several school administrators discuss practices and programs that are making inroads.

“We talk about educating all and yet we continue to educate some,” Lockamy said. “When you look at the 4% who drop out and the 5% who end up in alternative school you can’t help but think that in a district this big and a community this big surely there must be a way to address their needs.”

Some of the principals and program directors presented information about all of the good things their schools do, but did not provide details on how many of their students leave their schools having failed to meet academic or behavioral standards. But there were several others who provided details on how they have tailored their programs to include special supports that help struggling students meet and exceed academic expectations.

Johnson High principal Bernadette Ball Oliver said her school has to be just as devoted to their struggling students as they are to the high end learners in International Baccalaureate and Advanced Placement classes. Her school staff closely monitors every class grade and behavior infraction and provides a network of support — from behavior interventions and academic success plans to mentors and home visits — to ensure that they make it from freshman year to graduation day four years later.